


Stay with me

by GeoLinden



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Civil War (Marvel), Civil War Team Captain America, Domestic Avengers, F/M, Fluff, Iron Man - Freeform, Love Confessions, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:30:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29965716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeoLinden/pseuds/GeoLinden
Summary: Because of the consequences of your actions, 117 nations come together to create the Sokovia Accords. Now a decision hangs over you, whether to sign them or not, whatever you do will have repercussions.
Relationships: Tony Stark & Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark & Reader, Tony Stark/Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark/Reader
Kudos: 19





	Stay with me

**Author's Note:**

> Prequel to It will always be you.
> 
> Reader Powers: Psionic. You use psionic force to track any sentient being. You also create psychic shields to protect yourself. You can project psychic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim’s mind, causing them pain.
> 
> Sorry for my spelling and grammatical mistakes, English is not my native language, I am learning. Some of the dialogue is taken from the film. 
> 
> My Tumblr: https://ladyeliot.tumblr.com

The evidence was clear, the position you were currently in had come about because of some very poor performance on your part, the news had echoed the catastrophes you had caused, especially the attack on Lagos, the governments had lined up to stop it and come to a common agreement to keep you under their command. Deep down you all knew that day would come, though you were confident it would be further away. It had been almost four years since Tony Stark had rescued you from your past, from being a contraption held in a laboratory for research. You had been offered a future where you no longer had to run or hide, you had been offered freedom, a purpose in life, but that bundle of paperwork in front of your eyes was meant to make you a prisoner of the government once again.

The discussion had been getting louder and louder, the different opinions countering each other were causing the nerves to come to the fore, alternating the atmosphere. Although the resolution was clear, there was nothing to be done, you were either with them or against them, becoming a fugitive wanted by the whole world. The Sokovia Accords were established by the United Nations and ratified by 117 nations, and what they proposed was to regulate the activities of the altered individuals, namely that the Avengers would cease to be a private organisation, and from now on would operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, and only when and if that panel deemed it necessary.

There was no turning back, the consequences had been placed before you for the acts you had committed, it was a one way street, not a return. Secretary Ross had been in charge of presenting you with the whole set of papers that would have to be signed by you, but convincing you all to agree was not going to be so easy. 

“So let’s say we agree to this thing,” Sam said, unresponsive to the situation. “How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?”

“A 117 countries want to sign this,” Rhodes reminded him. “117, Sam, and you’re just like, ‘No, that’s cool. We got it.’”

Unlike them, you chose to keep a few metres away from the meeting table, remain silent and meditate with yourself on the proposal, not that you didn’t know the pros and cons or the consequences of not signing the agreements, but that you wanted to analyse the situation from different points of view without the others questioning your opinions.

“Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal,” Natasha said, turning her gaze to Tony.

“It’s because he’s already made up his mind,” Steve’s tone seemed harsher than usual.

“Boy, you know me so well,” Tony countered sarcastically, then turned his gaze and gestured in your direction. “She does seem to have made up her mind what her decision is.”

You felt the gaze of everyone present focus on you, who unlike him preferred to be absorbed in the shadows, hiding from the attention of your companions. But in the end, perhaps his words were true and you had made a decision, a decision that you were not going to allow anyone to choose for you.

“I guess it’s not as simple as you’re trying to make us believe Tony,” your tone was calm and affable, knowing that you were about to receive a sarcastic and ironic counterattack from him.

“Simple?” he gets up from the sofa raising his hands, walking towards the kitchen area, where you were sitting on a stool. “You think it’s simple for me?” he pulls a mobile device out of his pocket and sets it down right in front of you on the top, the device projecting an image of a smiling young man. “Oh, that’s Charles Spencer, by the way. He’s a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn’t want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn’t go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia.”

You look down, you understand perfectly what he means, you remember what happened in Sokovia, you remember because you were there, you saw with your own eyes what happened and also the consequences of your actions. But you knew that any decision had consequences and they could have been much worse if you had not acted, although there were also causes for your own fault.

“He wanted to make a difference, I suppose,” Tony continued, looking directly at you, his tone rising and stiffening. “I mean, we won’t know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass.”

After his last word, silence filled the room, everyone in the room was reliving the ghosts of the past. Tony definitely realising that you weren’t going to look up to return his gaze decided to head back into the room with the others.

“There’s no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes…”

You felt his voice trailing off, then Steve seemed to come in to debate various points, but you could barely focus on what each of them was saying. An internal struggle was going on inside you, and you couldn’t wait to see who was going to win.

“I have to go.”

You looked up after hearing those words spoken by Steve, his body rose energetically, dropping the agreements from his hand. That was the beginning of all the consequences that were to come after we had made the decision not to sign.

Your steps were decisive, you walked through those long corridors that had become your home for the last few years, knowing that you would most likely never see them again, or at least not for an indefinite period of time. You truly believed you had made a decision, a decision that could become the decision of a lifetime, a before and after in the life process you had created for yourself. You believed that you knew the consequences, that you would be willing to face them as they came. You knew there were going to be setbacks, obstacles, but you didn’t expect one as big as him to stand in your way.

“So you’ve made your decision?” the figure of Tony stood in the doorway of your room, a serious look on his face seeming to immobilise you. “Are you going to leave with Steve?

"I think it’s for the best,” your words were blunt, as you packed your most essential belongings into a rucksack.

His body entered your room just before the door closed behind him. You knew Tony well enough to know that his next words to you were likely to make an impression on you, but your mind was made up.

“Did you hear anything I just said in the living room?” he pursed his lips and ran his fingers nervously over them.

“Don’t make this difficult for me,” those words left your lips almost as a plea.

You barely looked at him, your back was turned to him and your eyes were focused on the inside of that backpack that seemed to have no end.

“I suppose you know that your decision is a single ticket,” his words were firm. “That you’re basically signing your own fucking sentence.”

“No,” you dropped the backpack and turned to him to find yourself face to face. “That’s exactly what I’m running from,” you sighed. “I think you of all people know that I know what it’s like to be someone’s property, that I’ve been for far too long and that’s what really scares me,” your pupils dilated as you remembered every single moment you’d lived hidden from the world, being an experiment. “I don’t need guys in ties fighting for their own interests telling me what to do or where to go, because my freedom ends when they command me,” the seriousness on Tony’s face had relaxed, he kept his gaze on his feet and nodded. “I want you to know that I’m going with Steve because you had already made your decision.”

The tension spread slightly around you, so much was hidden in those words, much more than what was shown. The complexity of the situation went far beyond signing or not signing the agreements, it was the break-up of a group, of friends, of family, something that could never be put back together again.

“I… I don’t know if I’m going to be able to protect you,” Tony clenched his jaw as he denied to himself, resting his brown eyes on yours again.

“I never asked you to.”

You knew perfectly well how much your words must have hurt him, and what he meant when he said he couldn’t protect you. There were so many hidden things in the air, but this was not the right time to start that conversation, maybe it was too late, nothing was going to change things so you asked yourself to please not make things more complicated. You turned around and nimbly zipped up your backpack, everything you had of great sentimental value was inside.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, hanging the backpack over your right shoulder and looking up at him.

“You’re not sorry,” his tone became serious, but at the same time indifferent, he was hurt. His gaze turned away from yours.

“This isn’t what I wanted to happen,” you whispered hoping that wasn’t the last image you would see of him before you left.

“So, all you have to do was stay,” those were the words that almost caused something inside you to stir, but you only gave a small, wistful smile as you looked at his face.

“You know I can’t,” you whispered hoping he wouldn’t extract his share of indifference towards you again. “Please don’t make it more complicated for me, because I can’t deal with you right now.”

It was impossible to explain to you at that moment the dilemma that was building up inside you. On the one hand your ethics and your values were what prevented you from signing those damn papers that limited and curtailed your freedoms, it was something you assumed. On the other hand, how could it be so hard to leave Tony, why, what was going on right now that you couldn’t face?

"Maybe you should just leave now,” Tony slipped his hands into his Tom Ford trouser pockets and focused his gaze on the door to your room.

You nodded slowly, your brow furrowed and your lips parted as you didn’t expect those words at all, you were ready to start an internal struggle, but he had already sentenced the conversation.

“Alright,” you muttered, taking a step backwards, away from him. “Bye Tony.”

As you got closer to that door a lump settled tighter in your throat, like a dramatic movie you expected him to say something to stop you at any moment, but he didn’t. The door opened and allowed you to leave. The corridors seemed miles long, perhaps because time was slowing down. A black car could be seen from the wide glass windows, there were Steve and Sam waiting for you. A guilty smile appeared on your face as you walked back through the hall, bidding farewell to those present.

As you stepped outside, the air seemed to open up your lungs again, which had been stuck after the last goodbye you had said to Tony. Sam was inside the car, and Steve took care of getting your rucksack into the boot, along with his shield and Sam’s wings.

“Are you all right?” muttered Steve, to which your response was a gentle nod.

As you rested your hand on the handle to open the car door, you couldn’t help but direct your gaze towards the top of the building, right where you had left Tony a few minutes ago. But there was definitely no sign coming from that spot to stop you from continuing on your way.

The next few days the situation became more complex than anyone here would have expected. Agent Carter’s funeral passed without incident, Natasha appeared to inform you that she was leaving for Vienna to sign the agreements, that there was still a chance for you to change your minds, but none of you did. Perhaps it was for the best, because during the signing an attack happened on the spot, an attack that changed the course of things. All eyes were on the Winter Soldier, Bucky, that directed Steve, Sam and you to Bucharest in a supposed attempt to get to Bucky before the authorities did.

“They’re on the roof,” Sam reported over the intercom.

“Steve get out of there right now,” you said hiding on the roof of the building next door. “I can sense you but I can’t surround your body with psychic energy unless you come out into the open.”

That day was one of the worst failures you had ever managed to pull off, perhaps it was obvious that things didn’t go quite right when feelings ran high, and it showed in Steve, especially when law enforcement trapped you in that tunnel.

“Stand down, now,” War machine appeared before you to end the fatal chase and set you on your way to Berlin.

You knew what would follow, there was only one way out or the consequences would be far more extreme, either sign the agreements or become prisoners of the law. Things were different for you, Captain could have his shield removed, Sam could have his wings removed and T'Challa, who had appeared in pursuit out of nowhere could have his suit removed too, but you and Bucky were far more dangerous, especially as your powers and dangers were in the mind.

When you arrived at the facility in that armoured truck Bucky was put in an extreme protection capsule, that marked memory making you remember the past time.

“What’s going to happen to him?” asked Steve walking beside you in the direction of Everett Ross, Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces.

“The same as you. Psychological evaluation and extradition,” he focused his gaze on you. "Miss Y/L/N, let’s hope you’ll be cooperative.“

You understood his words, you knew the fear you could cause, force could be controlled, the mind was much more complicated.

"Of course,” you affirmed with all your good intentions.

You didn’t know where, but you assumed that in a few minutes you were going to meet him again in some remote part of that building, you could feel it. First it was Natasha who approached you, and then when you stepped inside the control room there was Tony, talking on the phone.

“[…] consequences?” he turned his body towards you, his gaze fixed on you, which made you cross your arms and look around, avoiding her. “Of course there will be consequences.”

“Consequences?” asked Steve with a serious look on his face.

“Secretary Ross wants to prosecute the three of you. I had to give something.”

You walked away from them, realising that you had two armed men following your every step around that room. You watched the monitors, every corner of the planet seemed to be controlled by them, there was nothing they could miss, you could even see yourself reflected in one of them.

“Is it worth it?” you turned your face to find yourself face to face with the one who had made you doubt your decision a few days ago.

He took his right hand out of one of his trouser pockets and made a slight gesture for the two security officers who had been assigned to you to move a little away from you, offering you some privacy.

“What do you mean?” you cocked your head to one side. Your voice was stiff, you were tense enough about the situation to offer him a friendly tone.

“I don’t know, was it worth risking everything to find yourself back here with possible legal charges?” you didn’t deny it, Tony’s words hurt.

“Are you rejoicing?” you squinted, uncrossing your arms and turning your whole body towards him.

“How do you think this will all end?” he ran his index finger down the side of his mouth, his nervousness showing. Those words made you shudder. “Now you have a chance, don’t let it slip away.”

“Please, don’t make this worse than it already is,” your pleas were in vain. The last thing you wanted right now was a lecture from Tony.

“This wouldn’t even abe problem, if you wouldn’t make one out of it!” his voice was authoritative.

Your refusals and hesitations had gotten on his nerves, it was evident in the way he was addressing you. That was the last thing you wanted to do, to cause trouble, but it was clear that you were on the defensive against any verbal attack Tony might offer you. Sparks could almost fly between your gazes, which were still on after the conversation was over. You had no idea what was going to happen next, so you were grateful that Natasha caught Tony’s attention at that moment, breaking into a battle that wasn’t going anywhere.

The hours passed really slowly, so you found a space in a glassed-in conference room to settle in, under, of course, the watchful eye of the guards in charge of you, until you were called in for your psychological analysis.

“Do you need anything?” the door closed behind him.

“Are you playing good cop?” you asked watching as he dropped his blazer on a chair and sat down right next to you. “You’re not giving up, are you?”

“I’ll take every last cartridge,” he leaned his elbow on the table and dropped his chin into the palm of his hand. “You know, I was just remembering earlier when we all went to that Italian restaurant in Soho on your birthday, and then we were at the concert by…. Oh, what was the name of the band? ”

“What are you trying Tony?” you cocked your head to the side with a small smile on your face.

“I’m trying to… how do you say?” he rested his index finger on your lips. “Signing a peace agreement? Trying to get to your sensitive spot, because you have one, right?”

“I don’t know, I guess if you have one I might as well, huh?” you arched an eyebrow, intertwining your fingers on the table, causing him to make a gesture of placing his hands on yours, but he never got to touch them by restraining himself, so you ignored the gesture. "Do you want to sign a peace agreement with me, or do you want me to sign the Sokovia Accords?“

He took a breath and let it out slowly through his nostrils. He was completely frustrated, you knew it, you could feel it, he had rarely been involved in those situations that were out of his control.

"Listen,” he paused slightly, bringing his fingers to his chin. “I think it’s time that I…” he tore his gaze away from yours, let it wander, searching for his words as he gestured with his right hand. “I’ve tried many times, to do this but…. God, this really is the worst time to do it.” He looked around nervously and then crossed his arms, but quickly pulled them apart. “Whatever. We’re… well, I… it’s likely that I, maybe, can feel…”

You would remember that moment all your life, especially since you wouldn’t know until many years later what he meant to say to you. At that moment the lights went out, the monitors stopped working and everything was dark around you, only red flickering lights would have made their way into your darkness. Your head swivelled around you in search of whatever it was that was going on, Tony got up from his seat and placed his glasses over his eyes.

“Friday, give me the source of the blackout,” he said to himself.

Finally your eyes focused on Steve and Sam, who were standing next to Sharon in the next room. You listened as Sharon informed them of Bucky’s location, and a last glance towards you informed you that they were going to head that way, but just as you were about to leave that meeting room a hand came down hard around your arm.

“Stay with me,” the trembling words that came from his lips seemed to shake your insides.

“I can’t,” you mumbled through your teeth almost with all the pain in your heart.

His fingers loosened, allowing you to leave the room as quickly as possible, but you took one last second to contemplate his face and how many feelings were hidden in it. You knew you only had one chance, everyone present was distracted enough to find the reason for the blackout, you had only a few seconds to get out of the room without being seen, and a couple of minutes before they noticed, so you didn’t take long to do it.

A new decision piled up on your list, always facing the consequences you had acquired, and fighting against the feelings your heart presented to you. It wasn’t easy, you hadn’t given it much thought either, but what you did know was that you didn’t regret having done it, at least so far.


End file.
